Friends of the Lubicon
PO Box 444 Stn D,
Etobicoke ON M9A 4X4
Tel: (416) 763-7500
Email: fol (at) tao (dot) ca
www.lubicon.ca
June 19, 2006
The Alberta Provincial Government sold leases for new oil sands exploitation on over 50,000 hectares of Lubicon Traditional Territory last Wednesday.
There are two things Lubicon supporters should know about this latest mass sell-off of Lubicon lands and resources.
First, the Alberta Government took in over $8 million in bonus payments for the leases. In total, the province has taken in almost $14 million in bonus payments for selling oil and gas leases on unceded Lubicon lands in 2006 alone. That’s on top of the countless royalty payments they regularly receive for ongoing oil and gas exploitation on Lubicon territory. While the province receives astronomical amounts of money for selling Lubicon lands and resources to oil and gas companies, the Lubicon people receive environmental destruction, health problems, and a life on social assistance to replace the traditional hunting and trapping economy torn apart by oil exploitation.
For comparison purposes, while the Alberta Government received over $8 million in one day from selling Lubicon lands and resources, the one-day income for an average Lubicon family with two parents and four children forced onto social assistance as a result of oil and gas exploitation is approximately twenty-one dollars -- a difference of $7,999,979.
Secondly, this sell-off of Lubicon lands and resources is in direct violation of two recent United Nations decisions of which the governments of Alberta and Canada were fully aware.
The first decision, issued by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in October of last year, said that Canada "should consult with the Band before granting licences for economic exploitation of the disputed land, and ensure that in no case such exploitation jeopardizes the rights recognized under the [International] Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights]."
The second decision, issued just last month by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said "The Committee also strongly recommends the State party [Canada] to conduct effective consultation with the Band prior to the grant of licences for economic purposes in the disputed land, and to ensure that such activities do not jeopardize the rights recognized under the [International] Covenant [on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights]."
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Right Members asked Canadian government representatives specifically about this impending sale of oil sands leases on over 50,000 hectares of Lubicon territory, and had that in mind when arriving at the above conclusion.
In no case has the Lubicon Nation been consulted by Alberta or Canada regarding the sale of oil sands leases in its Traditional Territory. Therefore the Alberta and Canadian governments are in direct violation of two recent United Nations decisions.
The question is what Canadians, and the international community, are prepared to do about it.
fol-request at masses.tao.ca